short film idea 1 (consent matters) treatment

1. Consent Matters
By Rachel Moffat
Working title:

2. My working title for this film is ‘Consent Matters’. This is a
simple title which captivates the point of the film in just
two words. It is direct and memorable and will affect people
and make them think before they have even watched the film.
Length of the film:
Approx. 10 minutes. This should allow enough time to develop
my story and bring across a clear moral whilst still keeping
the audiences interest.
Tagline:
The tagline for my film will be ‘We will fight for the right
to consent.’ This shows the moral of the film as well as
alluding to the possibility of a fight; in my films case the
fight is a protest. I used the word ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ as it
is not just the main character’s (Noah) struggle, it is the
struggle of everyone, and the fact that there is a protest
where people come together as a team to fight for what’s right
is very important for the story. The person standing in the
main characters way is the Head teacher of the school as well
as many staff members who do not want the students to ruin the
school’s reputation. My story is unique as sexual consent is
as issue that many sixth forms are afraid to address properly.
We do get taught to ensure that we have consent before
engaging in any sexual activity, however that is clearly not
enough. People need to learn form a young age that this is
serious and it really does affect people every single day.
Key characters:
 Noah- main character, an18 year old girl who is fed up
with the way people are being treated and the sixth form
staff who want to silence her voice.
 Riley- the friend, a 16 year old girl who meets Noah at a
fresher’s party after being harassed by a drunk student.
Riley decides to help Noah with the book and the protest.
 Mr Andrews- the head teacher who tries to stop the book
and the protest in hopes of protecting his school’s
reputation
Synopsis:

3. My story starts as Noah walks into a fresher’s party, she
looks around to see students drinking and dancing and although
Noah is a student she seems slightly out of place as if she is
not enjoying the drunken atmosphere. Later in the evening she
sees Riley with a boy looking very uncomfortable as he dances
with her, Noah then witnesses as the boy attempts to kiss
Riley even though she is pushing him away. Noah steps in,
pushes the boy out of the way, puts her arm around Riley and
drives her home from the party.
The next scene takes place in sixth form the following Monday
as Noah see’s Riley and pulls her to one side to talk about
what happened at the party. At first Riley pretends that she
doesn’t remember and that it wasn’t a big deal; but once she
hears Noah say ‘How many people does this or worse have to
happen to before someone steps up and does something about
it.’ Riley agrees to help Noah and asks what they could do. To
this Noah responds ‘I have an idea’.
We then cross cut between many different scenes of Noah or
Riley talking to many different people saying ‘we are creating
a book and we need all the help we can get. If you could
submit a story, poem or drawing about an experience you have
had, something you have witnessed, it could reach someone
somewhere who is too afraid to seek help. All of the entries
will be completely anonymous and you can be as broad or
specific as you like. We need to show everyone how many people
this has effected, as well as how to cope and seek help.’
After this we will see many people writing, and giving letters
to Noah as she and Riley start creating this book with
voiceovers of people reading out lines from their own stories.
This scene will be incredibly hard hitting but will also bring
about a sense of togetherness as we finally see them working
together to face this head on. The scene will finish with a
shot of Noah and Riley printing and preparing the final copy
of their book which they title ‘consent matters’. Riley looks
at Noah and asks ‘you ready?’ to which Noah replies ‘let’s
go’.
The next scene will take place in sixth form as copies of the
book is being placed on the reception desk and passed around
the common room. We will see many students reading and talking
about it until Mr Andrews walks into Noah’s Media class and
asks her to leave to come and speak with him.
In Mr Andrews’ office Noah is asked to confess that she was
behind the book and is told that it will be banned from sixth
form immediately due to inappropriate topic matters and how it

4. makes the school look. Noah tries to argue that she has free
speech and this book could help hundreds of people. However
she ends up being silenced and asked to leave by Mr Andrews.
The last scene begins in Noah’s bedroom where she and Noah are
creating big signs that read ‘we will fight for our right to
consent’ and ‘give us back our voice’. We hear a voiceover of
Noah planning a protest and she her phoning lots of people
asking for help yet again. The film ends with a long shot of
Noah and many other people holding up signs and walking up to
the school gates in an arrow formation as a voiceover says
‘consent matters, and we will fight.’
Target audience:
The target audience for this film should be absolutely
everyone as it is such an important message that people need
to hear. However as it involves some very serious themes, I
would suggest anyone under the age of 15 should only watch
with parental consent. I think that the main audience will be
anyone between the ages of 15 and 25 as it is important for
this age group to learn about consent as they are growing up
and experiencing new things. I would also expect anyone who
has strong beliefs on gender equality to take an interest in
this film as it highlights a large feminist issue. I will
reach my audience by insuring that the film is accessible to
them through social media platforms such as YouTube. I also
hope that this film could be used in sexual education within
schools and collage’s as well as in any young person’s health
fairs.
Form and style:
Consent matters is a political drama film so I would like to
go for the most natural look I can to ensure that people don’t
feel like they are just watching a flashy film. I will use
lots of ambient light and ensure I have good continuity
editing. I want my audience to be able to relate with some of
the characters and try to understand how they might be
feeling.

5. Marketplace:
My film is a low budget short film so I shall make it
accessible on the internet through platforms such as YouTube
or other short film websites. I could also enter my film into
some film festivals to get it out there as that is a good way
to get your film seen in the amateur film making business.